9. Kid Cudi "Day N Nite" (2008)

Few rap hits have cannily predicted the sound of the next few years as well as Scott Mescudi's breakthrough hit. Part of that, of course, is due to the fact that "Day N Nite" caught the ear of Kanye West, who enlisted Kid Cudi to help out on his also hugely influential 808s & Heartbreaks. But even so, the morose, stoned, and yet strangely danceable sound and tone of "Day N Nite" would be a sign of things to come in hip-hop, with Cudi's melodic delivery marking him as the kind of rapper who didn't always have to rap but would never sound like a happy go lucky pop star. The hook is simple—given the redundancy of the phrase "lonely loner," it's almost too simple—but it's impossible to forget once you hear it.

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